Poker website ‘swindled £280m from player accounts’

The Full Tilt Poker website, which was blocked from operating in the US, was a global ‘Ponzi’ scheme, or swindle, according to federal prosecutors.

Full Tilt Poker has denied it operated as a Ponzi scheme

The internet poker company illegally raided player accounts to fund operations and make lavish payments to its owners, Justice Department lawyers said in a civil lawsuit filed in New York.

Over four years, the company allegedly used £280million in player money to pay board members, including professional poker players Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson.

The website was blocked this year as part of an online gambling crackdown.

A lawyer for Full Tilt Poker has rejected allegations made by federal prosecutors.

‘While the government has obviously taken issue with the underlying activities of FTP, under any reasonable interpretation, the worldwide operations of the online cardroom are not a so-called Ponzi scheme,’ said Ian Imrich in a statement.

Imrich added that the use of the ‘inflammatory’ term was ‘careless’ and may ‘violate pre-trial publicity rules of professional responsibility’ by prosecutors.